Today, on July 5, on the occasion of the Constitution Day, AntiFake.am and "Civil Consciousness" Liberal NGO jointly organized a symbolic campaign-protest in front of the Presidential Palace under the theme #Save_Constitution.
The protest started at 10:30 am from 1, Baghramyan Street, where the protesters marched to the RA Presidential Palace. The protesters voiced all the actions (and inaction) of the president with which he violated the Constitution of Armenia.
During the protest, symbolic actions were also implemented; in particular, balloons with images of several officials, who had been regularly violating the Constitution, were exploded. The participants of the protest gifted the President of the Republic Armen Sarkissian with a big Constitution, including the chapter about the president of the republic, so that the latter would read and get acquainted with his powers and would stop violating the provisions of the RA Constitution.
After the actions, planned for the RA Presidential Palace, were completed, the protesters gave samples of the Constitution of Armenia to the citizens.
Below is the statement of the #Save_Constitution campaign participants on Armen Sarkissian's violations of the Constitution:
1. Armen Sarkissian's Legitimacy as the President of the Republic
An alleged violation of Article 124.2 of the Constitution
According to the Article 124 of the RA Constitution, everyone having attained the age of forty, having held citizenship only of the Republic of Armenia for the preceding six years, having been permanently residing in the Republic of Armenia for the preceding six years, having the right of suffrage and having command of the Armenian language might be elected as President of the Republic. Meanwhile, oppositionist Pashinyan insisted that according to their data, Armen Sarkissian did not hold citizenship of Armenia in the last 6 years only (the "Yelq" (Way out) faction insisted that, according to the statement, issued by the British Embassy, Armen Sarkissian had been an LLC director in 2012-2014, for which he should have been a British citizen) and required the relevant documents.
The only prerequisite for the oppositional faction to accept the legitimacy of the president was to present the above-mentioned document.
As a result of the political events, that took place in the Republic of Armenia in April, Nikol Pashinyan announced that he had seen the required document and confirmed the legitimacy of the president. It is necessary to note that the mentioned document was never published in the future.
2. A Violation of the Term for Nominating a Candidate for the Vacant Position of a Judge of the Constitutional Court
A violation of Article 166.9 of the Constitution
There was a vacant position of a judge of the RA Constitutional Court, the nominee for which should be presented by the president of the republic. The latter nominated Emil Babayan's candidacy on April 23, 2018, who was not elected as a judge of the Constitutional Court, after which, according to the constitutional law on “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly”, the president was obliged to nominate a new candidate for the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court (CC) within ten days. The president, considering that the deadline was too short to nominate a judge, applied to the Constitutional Court in order to determine whether the issue complied with the Constitution. However, together with applying to the Constitutional Court, the president did not fulfil his obligations under the Constitution and the law, that is, to nominate a candidate within 10 days. It could have been assumed that the president's arrogation was conditioned by the fact that he was waiting for the decision of the Constitutional Court in regard to his application. Nevertheless, the president of the republic nominated Vahe Grigoryan for the vacant position of a judge before the Constitutional Court made the relevant decision (Vahe Grigoryan was not elected as a CC judge as well). Summarizing the above-mentioned facts, we can conclude that the guarantor of the constitutional order violates the requirements of the Constitution and the laws himself.
3. The Blockade of the Building of the National Assembly
A violation of Article 123.2 of the Constitution
On October 2, 2018, the draft law on “Making Amendments to the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia on Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly” was adopted during the second reading in the National Assembly. The adoption of that law was the basis for the prime minister's unreasonable anger, and he called for people to block the building of the National Assembly. That was an obvious violation of the principle of separation of powers by the head of the executive power - the prime minister himself. The president made a short statement supporting N. Pashinyan. Moreover, the several ministers were dismissed during the blockade by the prime minister right in the street, and in that legal crisis, the president avoided implementing his main constitutional functions.
4. A Violation of Deadlines for Forming a Government
A violation of Article 150 of the Constitution
Armen Sarkissian together with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan violated the Article 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, according to which, the Government should be formed within a period of fifteen days following the appointment of the prime minister. The prime minister should, within a period of five days following his or her appointment, propose to the president of the republic candidates for deputy prime ministers and ministers.
In January - February 2019, the prime minister did not present all the members of the government, which he should have done based on the RA Law on “The Structures and Activities of the Government”, and five former ministers were appointed by the prime minister as deputy ministers and started exercising the powers of a government member, which means that they bypassed the president of the republic in fact.
5. Blocking the Court Entrances
A violation of Article 123.2 of the Constitution
On May 9 this year, Prime Minister Pashinyan published the following call to action on his Facebook page, “From 08.30 am, we block the exits and entrances of all the courts of the republic without exception, so that no one will enter.” Obviously, the head of the executive power violated Article 4 of the Constitution again, which was about the principle of separation and balance of powers, and again it was the turn of the president to supervise the preservation of the Constitution, i.e., to implement his main constitutional function. The president, without breaking with tradition, made a statement saying nothing, again avoiding taking any practical steps in order to guarantee the constitutional order (It should be noted that at that time the president was on a business trip again).
6. The nomination of a Pro-Governmental Candidate for the Vacant Position of a Judge of the Constitutional Court with a Violation of the Law
A violation of Article 166.9 of the Constitution
On October 23, 2018, after the candidacy of Vahe Grigoryan as a judge of the Constitutional Court was rejected by the National Assembly, the president stopped nominating candidates for a while. Then, the president, who was not distinguished by his adherence to principle, kept the adopted indifferent political conduct and nominated Vahe Grigoryan as a judge of the Constitutional Court again.
In fact, the President of the Republic surrendered to the government's blackmail and again nominated a notorious lawyer, whose conduct was pro-governmental and who, based on famous recordings, was obviously politicized.
7. Exercising the Powers not Envisaged by the Constitution
A violation of Article 123.4 of the Constitution
Armen Sarkissian has made a number of visits, held discussions, which were not included in the scope of his powers.
#Save_Constitution campaign was initiated by:
AntiFake.am Fact-Checking and Information Provision Website
"Civil Consciousness" Liberal NGO